Jhasmin Bowen is one of four juniors on Heights' girls basketball team, so she has no edge in experience on a team with one senior, a reserve.

It's Bowen, though, who is the unquestioned leader of the Falcons. She's also the team's motor — her surge after a slow start Tuesday helped Heights pull away and beat Southeast 66-42.

"There's no doubt about it, Jhasmin is where it all starts and ends," Heights coach Kip Pulliam said. "When she's not doing it on the offensive end, she's rebounding on the defensive end or blocking shots. She's definitely what's making us tick right now."

Bowen, a 6-foot-1 center, was the focus of Southeast's defense early. The Buffaloes packed in their zone and often kept a defender in front of her.

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But Bowen found a way to score by grabbing six offensive rebounds or getting to the free throw line. She finished with 15 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

" (Garnes) was playing me low and she wasn't guarding me up high (in the post)," Bowen said. "So I was able to go up high and drive to the basket."

Southeast's deep zone gave Heights plenty of open shots from the perimeter. The Falcons warmed up late to finish 5 of 15 from three-point range, but their early struggles and Southeast's post defense kept the game close, with Heights taking a 27-18 halftime lead.

Foul trouble by Garnes gave Bowen an easier time inside, and she scored seven points in the second quarter. She added two more baskets in the third, when a 9-0 run gave the Falcons a 36-18 lead.

"That changes the momentum of the game," Southeast coach LaToya Randle said. "I have to make substitutions when I don't want to make them."

Guard Jamillah Bonner led Southeast with 18 points and 11 rebounds but got little help offensively from the post players who were keeping the Falcons off-balance early.

Bowen's offense supplemented that of Kamisha Richard, who led the Falcons with 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Richard, a 6-foot forward, used her quickness advantage to get to the basket for uncontested shots.

"The pressure on the outside from the guards, they were double teaming and trapping," Bowen said. "Us as posts, we were able to get through it and get the points and the guards were able to get open to look for the shots outside."